Alexander with EML

ESA astronaut Alexander Gerst sawing a stuck bolt used to secure the Electromagnetic Levitator hardware for launch. Alexander managed to saw the bolt out, cleverly using shaving foam to keep any metal debris from floating free.

The Electromagnetic Levitator is a furnace that can heat metals up to 2100°C and then cool them rapidly. Observing liquid metals cooling in weightlessness helps to reveal the core processes of physics. The levitator takes things a step further and suspends the metals in mid-air as they melt and solidify.

Follow Alexander and his mission via http://alexandergerst.esa.int